Connecting-rod.



A. E. COOK & T. VAN TUYL.

CONNECTING ROD.

APPLICATION FILED same. 1912.

1 ,1 96,933. Patented Sept. 5, 1916 4' v IF v'Er ImE ET:

I HZbefZiCoo/c I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT E. COOK and ALBERT E. GOOK, OF obEBoL'r, IowA, AND THOMAS VAN 'iUYL, OFKANKAKEE, ILLrnoIs;

snrnvan TUYL ASSIGNOR TO SAID ooox.

connnc'rmG-non.

TrIoMAsVAN TUYL, citizens of the United States,'and--residents of the city of Odebolt,

in the county of Sac and State of Iowa,.and

Kankakee, Kankakeecounty, Illinois, respectively, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Connecting-Rods; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, 7 reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numbers of'reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

In theuse of, internal combustion engines.

and many other kinds of machinery and mechanisms, the loosening of the bearing bolts sometimes occasioned by the vibration of the machine itself (and sometimes occasioned by journal wear) prove dangerous and destructive to the mechanism and an- I mg rod at the side thereof opposite the noying because of the hammer occasioned by such loose connections Frequent attention has been necessary heretofore'to the connecting rod box for internal combustion engines. Such boxes receive the full shock of the explosion of the charge and transmit the same to the crank, and very slight looseness or play in the box may soon destroy a hearing or cause serious'accident, inasmuch as the defect napidly increases-in extent with use of the device.

The object of this invention is to afford a construction whereby the connecting rod bearings are automatically self-adjusting to' fit respectively the piston pin and the crank, precluding the possibility of injury through hammering. I p Y It is an object of the invention to afford a construction whereby the connecting rod ng our invention. Fig. 2 is an,enlarged side-elevation thereof, with thepiston pin and crank in section. Fig. 3 is afront elrvation thereof. Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragthe outer nut 16, at the. other, and said outer mentaiy detail, partlyin section. a

the upper end of a tensionrod 11. sion rod extends downwardly and Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept 5 1916,, Application filed September 6, 1912. Serial No. 718,810.

As shown in the drawings: 1, indicates the piston, 2, the piston pin, and 3, the crank shaft, .and the crank'of an internal combushaving anaperture therethrough to receive a transverse pin 10, which extends through Said tenobliquely through said connecting rod, an aperture .being provided therefor obliquely through said rod.

Hinged on the lower end of the connecthinged connection with the upper cap, is a lower box cap 12, the crank 3, and provides a lip 13, having an aperture thereinthrough which the tension rod 11, extends. Said projection or lip 13, is countersunk or shaped on its under which projects beyond side to afford a spherically concave seat, and

threaded onto'the end of the tension rod, is a nut 14:, the end of which is spherically convex and complemental with said seat.

, Extending into the outer face of said nut or that directed toward the lower end of the tenslon rod,.is an aperture 15. Threaded on said tension rod at'the outer end thereof, is

a nut 16, and extending therethrough and through a slot in the end of the tension rod, as shown in Fig. 4, is a cotter pin 1' 7, which rigidly holds said nut from turning. A

spiral torsion spring 18, is engaged in said aperture 15, in said inner or adjusting nut and in a corresponding aperture in the inner face of the .nut 16, and said spring is ten- ,sioned by means of the outer nut 16, to exert its torsion upon the adjusting nut to tighten the same.

The operation is as. follows: In assembling, the connecting rod is secured in place and the brasses having been fittedto the piston pin and the-crank, the tension rodis drawn down by" means of the nut 14,, toa suificientlyclose fit. The spring is next in-- sorted to engage said nut 14, at one end, and

nut is next tightened, thereby winding up the spring 18, to exert its constant torsion upon the adjusting nut 14. Having adjusted the outer nut EU, to afford the desired torsion in the spring, the cotter pin 17, is secured in place, and the device is ready for use.

The entire shock of the explosion and the compression of the charge within the cylinder, is taken onopposite ends of the connecting red as usual, and not upon the caps, and consequently there is no stress thereby applied upon either the tension rods or the respective caps, and the same is true with reference to the compression within the eyl' inder, as in four cycle or four stroke engines. Any journal wear occasioned at either end of the journal red by the operation is immediately taken up by thi adjustment of the adjusting nut 14-, upon which the constant torsion of the spring 18. is exerted, so that with any vibration whatever in the mechanism, said nut is constantly adjusted inwardly, thereby drawing the caps firmly upon the piston pin and crank, or in other words, tightening the bearing.

Of course, the tension exerted by the spring may be readily adjusted by means of the nut 16, just snflicient to make the bearings at all times sufliciently tight to afford satisfactory operation and to prevent any tendency whatever to hammering.

It is to be understood that the invention is capable of other application than that herein shown and described, and we have shown but a preferred form of the invention, and therefore do not purpose limiting the patent otherwise than necessitated bythe prior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A connecting rod and hinged bearing caps at each end thereof, a. pivoted tension rod extending through said rod and con necting said caps, a convex faced nut adjustably mounted on said tension rod and bearing in a complemental recess in one of said caps, forming a ball and socket bearing and torsion means acting automatically on said nut to adjust the tension rod tomaintain the connecting rod bearings at all times tight.

2. The combination with the piston pin and crank of an engine of a connecting rod engaged therebetween, bearing caps for said piston pin and for said crank, a tension rod pivotally engaged on the cap at the piston end of said rod and extending loosely through an enlarged aperturcin the free end of the cap at the crank end of the rod, a rounded out adjustably mounted on said tension red at its lower end and bearing in a complcmcntal recess in said crank cap, and torsion means engaged on said nut and rod and acting automatically to tighten said nut onto the rod thereby drawingisaid capsto the bearings.

.1 Hi a centre ol the class described the combination with the piston pin and the crank, of a connecting rod engaged therebetween, a cap hinged at each end of the connecting rod on opposite sides thereof and projecting thereover and fitting respectively to the piston pin and to the crank, a tension rod extending obliquely through the connecting rod and pivotally engaged on the free end of one cap and extending loosely through the other. a convex faced nut threadedon the crank end of said tension rod and seated in a complcmental recess in the latter of said caps, means wound around the threaded end of said tension rod and engaging said nut, a nut on the outer end of said tension rod engaging the outer end of said means to wind the same around said tension rod, said means acting to automatically tighten said convex faced not on said tension rod to take up the caps, and means rigidly securing the said outer nut upon the rod in adjusted p0- sition.

t. The combination with a connecting rod of bearing caps therefor hinged thereto, one of said caps countersunk to afford a concave seat, tension means pivoted on one of said caps, and a. rounded adjusting nut threaded onto said tension means and complemental with the concave seat, and torsion mechanism secured to said adjusting nut adapted to automatically tighten the nut on the tension means.

5. In a device of the class described a connecting rod, hearing caps thereon, one of said caps provided with an enlarged aperturi and countersunk to aiiord a socket seat, a tension rod pivotally connected to the other of said caps and cxtel ling loosely through the enlarged aperture in said apertured cap, a rounded adjusting nut on said tension rod, seating in said socket at various angled positions of the tension rod, and means automatically tightening said nut on said tension rod to take up the caps.

(i. In a device of the class described the combination with the piston pin and the crank, of a connecting rod between the same, a cap on each end of the connecting rod and at one side thereof pivotally secured thereto, one of said caps provided with an enlarged aperture and countersunk to atl'ord a recess, a tension rod pivotally connected to the other of said caps and extending loosely through the enlarged aperture in said apertured cap, a rounded adjusting out on said tension rod, complementally formed to fit in said countersunk recess, and mechanism automatically tightening the nut on said tension rod to take the caps.

7. A connecting rod and hinged bearing caps at each end thereof, a tension rod pivotally connected to one of said caps and slidably inserted through the other of said caps, said last mentioned cap countersunk to afford a concaveseet, an adjusting nut In testimony whereof we have hereunto 13 having :1v convex end, threaded onto the subscribed our names in the presence of two lower end of-sznd tens1on rod and formed subscribing witnesses.

complementally with the concave seat, to 1 m '5 seat therein at various angled positions 0f Q said tension rod, and a torsion means c0n- V nected to said adjusting nut adapted to au- Witnesses: tomatically adjust and tighten said nut and CHARLES W. HILLS, Jr.

the caps on their respective bearings. GEORGE R. MOORE. 

